The Lonely Man
by TheOwlishFangirl
Summary: A young girl named Hazel Brennan meets a sad man in her local park, and discovers there is more to him than meets the eye. Set before the new series begins, before Nine meets Rose.


Disclaimer: I do not own Doctor Who or its characters, I am only borrowing them for a bit.

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[Author's note: This is my first Fanfic. Please review, because I would love to have some input on what people think of it such as suggestions, advice, or simply an observation about it. I hope you enjoy this short story.]

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Hazel Brennan walked through an empty park. It was a park that she hadn't been to in what seemed like an eternity. It was the park that she and her friends had played at when they were younger. It was by a creek that she and her friends had swam and caught crayfish in. There were plenty of benches and tables to sit at, and the trees lined the creek, their roots growing at the edge of the water. Hazel could almost see the memories she had made there as a young girl. She could picture herself and a few friends sitting on a log with their feet dangling in the water. All the fun times they had had, laughing and talking for hours on end.  
There was also a jungle gym in the park, with plenty of things to climb and slides coming out of 'the Tower' as she had thought of it as. Though in reality it was just a plastic and metal playset with monkey bars and so many different ways to climb up to the top. She looked at it sadly, for now there was graffiti sprayed on the slides and walls of the playset. She never understood why someone would want to destroy and vandalize children's play areas. At the end of the park there were some swings. Two swings like the kind that babies and toddlers could use. She remembered the times when her younger brother would try and get into them, and since he was too old and much too big for them he would get stuck. She laughed softly, remembering that their mom had to pull him out of it with much difficulty.  
There were also two normal swings and at one of them sat a grown man who was swinging slowly. Hazel thought he looked sad and lonely. The man had pale skin and short, dark, buzz-cut hair. His ears were slightly comical in their size. He was wearing black slacks, and a dark green v-neck shirt under a black leather jacket.  
She walked over and sat down on the swing next to him. He looked up at her with a raised eyebrow, but when she smiled he looked back down and frowned.  
She ventured to say, "Hello, my name is Hazel. What's yours?"  
Without looking up he said, "Hello Hazel, nice to meet you. My name is...isn't important."  
Hazel was puzzled by why this man was clearly avoiding talking to her. She looked up and said, "Its a nice day, isn't it?"  
He looked at her and responded gruffly, "It is an extremely cloudy day and I think it might rain, so no, it isn't a nice day."  
Hazel noticed he had a British accent of some sort, though she wasn't sure what part of the U.K. he was from. But she decided to stay positive, she swung a little harder on the swing.  
"But rain is great. I love it, it makes everything clean and makes the air smell fresh," she said cheerfully.  
The man abruptly turned and asked, "Why are you so keen on bothering me? I don't see what is so great about rain. It is wet, and cold, and is an annoyance to anyone caught in it!"  
Hazel was stunned for a second, he was apparently mad at something, but she was pretty sure it wasn't rain. "I didn't mean to bother you, you just looked lonely.  
If I'm bothering you I guess I'll leave." Her face crestfallen, she started to stand up.  
Suddenly the man grabbed her arm, she gasped and whirled to look at him, eyes wide.  
"Wait," he said. "I'm sorry, don't leave." She looked at his hand, which was still holding onto her forearm, he awkwardly let go and muttered an apology. He continued, "I'm sorry for being rude, it isn't your fault. Please, sit back down." She tentatively took a seat on the swing again, her eyes fixed on the man.  
"If it isn't me, then what _is_ bothering you?" She asked. The man grimaced slightly, looking at his hands, and didn't answer.  
She tried a different route. "Why are you so sad?"  
The man glanced at her and brightened a little, smiling a very fake-looking smile and replied with a question of his own. "What makes you think I'm sad?"  
She chuckled slightly and said, "Why else would a grown man be alone in an empty park swinging with a downcast look on his face?"  
He laughed a little at that, "I guess I do look a little dreary don't I?" But then he went silent again.  
"So...why are you sad?" She asked again.  
He sighed and said, "I guess you could say I've lost something very special to me. It was my own doing. And I'll never get to see th...it, again."  
Hazel could hear the sorrow in his voice, the kind of warble where you can tell that the person is trying not to cry. She stopped swinging and carefully asked, "What did you lose? Maybe I could help you find it."  
He smiled a little, a sort of sad sideways smile. "No, you can't help me...no one can..."  
She thought for a moment. "Maybe if you told me, I could at least try."  
He didn't answer, he seemed lost in thought.  
"By the way," Hazel said. "You never told me what your name was."  
The man looked at her and said, "Well, I guess you could call me the Doctor, at least that's what some people call me."  
She furrowed her brow. "The Doctor? So...you are a doctor?"  
He smiled, this time a more genuine smile, and said, "That's what I'm called, not sure why. I'm not a very good Doctor, though. Not anymore."  
He looked down and was silent again. Hazel could see that she wasn't getting very far.  
"What happened?" She asked, and waited for him to answer.  
After a moment the Doctor said, "You wouldn't believe me if I told you. And trust me, you don't want to know."  
"I'm not so sure about that. I believe a lot of things that most people call unbelievable. I want to know. That way I can help, if possible," she stated.

The Doctor looked at her closely, then said, "No, I can't. You wouldn't even be able to imagine what I lost or what happened, or even what I am."  
She looked him straight in the eyes and said, "How do you know what I could or couldn't imagine? I imagine all sorts of things, I love fantasizing about other worlds and creatures and people. So _trust_ me, I'm sure I can believe it."  
He looked as if he was beginning to give up on trying to resist. So he said, "Are you sure? Its pretty far-fetched."  
She smiled and said, "Try me."  
The Doctor stood up and said, "Come over here, and I'll tell you, well...show you."

They crossed the park to a picnic table, the Doctor sat across from Hazel.  
The Doctor took a deep breath and said, "Okay, this may seem weird, but bear with me."  
She raised one eyebrow, but said, "Okay...what are you going to do?"  
"I'm going to put my hands on your temples, okay?"  
She nodded slowly. "Alright, what's that supposed to do?  
"You'll see. Now, stop asking questions," he said, putting his hands close to the sides of her head. "Now, close your eyes." The girl looked at him suspiciously. "Trust me, just do it."  
"Okay," she said slowly. "I'll trust you." She closed her eyes.  
"Alright then. Here we go. A little bit of background," he mumbled.

"What are you-?!" Hazel started to say, but as the Doctor's hands touched her temples, millions of images flashed in her mind's eye. It seemed that the Doctor's life was playing out in her mind, images of planets and aliens and battles. It was different than she had imagined, but it was amazing. Then it was gone, the Doctor had removed his hands. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her, concerned.  
"Are you okay? Was that too much?" he asked. Hazel was speechless.  
After a moment of stammering, she said, "What was that? How did you do that? You're a...an alien?! No, a...Timelord?"

He smiled and said, "That was a little trick that my species has that helps with transfering a lot of information. Yep, an alien of the race called Timelords. Is that okay?"  
Hazel was smiling really widely, she exclaimed, "Yeah, that is okay! More than okay! Amazing! I have always wondered if there were aliens. Or, well, intelligent alien species. And you travel through space and _time_?! So Timelords are your people, and they live on a planet called... Galli...Gallifrey?"  
The Doctor's smile grew smaller, he answered, "Yes, the Timelords. One of the only races to use time travel. Yeah, it was called Gallifrey. An amazing planet. My home once, long ago."  
She thought for a moment, brows furrowed, looked up and asked, "Was? It _was_ called Gallifrey? What happened?"  
He didn't meet her gaze and said, "Yes...it _was_ called Gallifrey. But something happened, a war. The last Time War. I'm going to show you some of Gallifrey, but tell me if it gets to be too much, okay?"  
She was concerned about what he meant by 'Time War', but she said, "Okay, I will."

She closed her eyes again and felt the Doctor's hands again. The images came again, but only of one place. A beautiful orange colored planet, _Gallifrey,_ she thought. There were great rolling fields of red grass, and towering mountains capped with snow, and forests of silver-leaved trees. There was a great shining city, in a sort of dome or force field. But then the images changed.  
There were battles, horrible battles, and creatures that fired mercilessly opon the people; the Timelords. Men, women, and children Timelords.  
Their enemy was an odd one that Hazel had never imagined. They were cylindrical, tank-like creatures. They had weird weapons, a whisk-looking gun, and something that looked like a plunger. If it had not been for the actions of the weird tank aliens, she would have thought they looked absurd. A name suddenly came for these creatures: Daleks.  
It was horrible. The Daleks had their ships orbiting Gallifrey, and they attacked without mercy or compassion. It was so sad. So many Gallifreyans died. The images became unclear until they focused on one figure, a man on the run. The man went into a strange blue box. Then there was an explosion and the scene faded.  
When Hazel opened her eyes she found that she was crying. She wiped away the tears and glanced at the Doctor. He too was crying, his head in his hands. He quickly swiped at his eyes and looked at her. She stood up and started to back away. The Doctor looked scared, as if realizing what he had shown her. Wide-eyed, he stood and said,  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to show all of it to you. I had to do it! I didn't want to, but I had to!" he exclaimed.  
Hazel was slightly confused. "I asked you to tell me what was wrong, and you did. But what happened? Who was that man at the end?"  
She sat on the table bench again, back turned to this strange alien who called himself the Doctor. She felt bewildered by all she had seen. The Doctor walked around the table, and sat next to her on the bench.  
He shook his head, "I didn't mean to show it to you. It was the Time War, the last Time War. The man who ran into the box, that was me. The explosion, I did that. I had to stop the Daleks, but in the process I blew up Gallifrey. Its gone, all of it! And it's my fault! The Timelords are all dead! The Daleks too, but the Gallifreyans are dead along with them."  
Hazel's head spun as she soaked in everything she'd learned. She glanced sideways at the Doctor, and she didn't know what to say. It was horrible, but he was suffering from the sadness and guilt of the whole thing.  
She eventually inquired, "So...you're the last Timelord? You travel alone through space and time? Is that how you got here?"  
"Yes...," he sighed, "I am the last. The only survivor of the Last Great Time War between the Daleks and the Timelords. And yes, I am traveling alone in my ship. It's called the T.A.R.D.I.S. That's the blue police box that you saw. Coming here was an accident. I was trying to get to London, but somehow the coordinates got mixed up and I ended up here. But I got to meet you, so I suppose it isn't so bad that I have a faulty T.A.R.D.I.S." Hazel was silent for a moment, processing what the Doctor had said. A few things puzzled her still.  
"So...your time machine is a blue police telephone box? What is that anyway? You call your ship a tar...tadi..." She huffed in exasperation. "What did you call it again?"  
The Doctor chuckled and said, "Well, it looks like an old 1963 British police telephone box, but that's only on the outside, and only because the Chameleon Circuit is broken. But I've gotten used to her looking like that. Oh, and its T.A.R.D.I.S., T-A-R-D-I-S, it is an acronym that stands for 'Time And Relative Dimension In Space'."  
Hazel's eyebrows raised in surprise. All that she could say was, "Wow."

He laughed quietly and asked tentatively, "Do you believe me? Or are you going to run off and call the police saying that a there is a madman in the park talking about aliens, war, and police telephone boxes that travel through time and space?"

He watched her face carefully until she replied, "Yeah, I believe you. I'm not going to call the police, I don't think they would know what to do anyway."

She paused and looked at him. "So what are you going to do now?" she queried.  
He looked surprised, "Probably just more of the same, just wandering throughout time and space trying to see everything before its gone. You actually believe me?"  
She nodded enthusiastically. "Of course I believe you. I don't think anyone could make all of that up, or do that telepathic...thing. But where is your box? I mean, your TARDIS?" He pointed to the bridge where the road went over the creek. "Right over there. Under the bridge."

They walked over towards the bridge, and sure enough, Hazel could see a large blue box that said "Police Public Call Box".  
All of a sudden, a phone started ringing. Hazel reached into her jacket pocket, retrieving a smart phone. She answered it. "Hello?" she asked. A woman's voice answered rather loudly. She took the phone from her ear and whispered to the Doctor, "Its my mom."

She put the phone back to her ear. "Yeah Mom?" There was a pause while Hazel's mom was talking. "I'm at the park." She replied to the phone. She winced as her mom's voice rose at the other end of the line.  
"I know Mom, but I was talking to this guy and I lost track of the time."  
There was another pause as her mom screeched, "What!?" And then her mom started speaking rapidly. "Yes, I know its not safe to talk to strangers. But he is different, he was so lonely and sad, and he looked like he needed someone to talk to." She glanced at the Doctor apologetically. "And he is nice," She added, which made the Doctor smile a bit. "Well, he is a little different, but he isn't a weirdo or anything." Pause. "Okay Mom, I'm on my way," she said, sounding a little perturbed. "Okay, see you there. Bye."  
She hung up and tucked the phone back in her pocket before turning to the Doctor and saying, "Sorry about that. I was supposed to be home half an hour ago, but I forgot once we started talking."  
"That's alright. Mothers worry; its what they do," he replied goodnaturedly. "And she is right, it isn't safe to talk to strange men in parks." He smiled. "I had a mom too, you know."  
Hazel cracked a sad smile, "I know, but sometimes being considerate and kind is worth the risk."  
The Doctor smiled wider for a moment, but then became more serious. "I guess you need to go, right?"  
Hazel's face fell and she said, "Yeah, I suppose so. But what are you going to do? Where will you go?" She looked concerned. He shrugged and answered,  
"I will probably go and try for London again, maybe I'll actually get there this time."  
"Alone?"  
"Yeah, probably. I don't have anyone to travel with." He admitted.  
She frowned, "But...you can't travel alone, not like this. You need to find someone to travel with. A companion. And what will you do? Surely with a time machine you could help lots of people throughout all of the history of the universe."  
"I guess I probably could use the company. It does get lonely in the T.A.R.D.I.S., all those rooms and no one to talk to... But I can't change history. Most things are fixed points in time, they have to happen, even if it means people die." He mused.  
"Surely you can help a few people here and there," she proposed.  
"Would you like to..."He started to say, but seemed to change his mind. "I guess you need to leave. I've got the whole universe ahead of me. I will travel the universe and help a few people along the way, just for you."  
He paused, a strained silence. "I'll be going then." He turned to walk away, but Hazel put her hand on his arm.  
"Doctor..." She stammered. He looked at her in surprise and with a tiny bit of hope.  
She let go of his arm and told him, "I'm not sure if I will see you again...but promise me something." He looked wary, but waited for her to continue.  
"Promise me that you will find someone, a person to keep you company when you are running all over the universe. Someone to be there for you when you need them. Someone who will help you in what ways they can. A person that will accept you for who you are, and know that even though you aren't human you still make mistakes, and need someone to love you even for your faults. Please don't travel alone."  
He smiled at her one last time and declared, "I'll do my best. Goodbye then, Hazel, and thank you for being kind to an old, strange man who was sad. Goodbye." He turned and walked away toward the blue box.

She watched as he walked up to the time machine called the T.A.R.D.I.S. and pulled a key out of a pocket in his leather jacket. He inserted the key into the lock and opened the door. He looked back, smiling, and waved. Hazel waved back. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him.  
The girl turned away to head home. The wind picked up and whipped her hair into her face. She brushed it out of the way and turned to watch the T.A.R.D.I.S. disappear. A light on the top of it lit up and started flashing, then the box itself started to first look transparent and then visible, pulsing with the same rhythm as the light. A weird wheezing sort of sound came from it, growing louder and louder as the box materialized and dematerialized. And then the box was gone. Vanished, leaving no trace that it had stood there at all.  
Hazel Brennan smiled, turning to leave the park. As she walked home she thought about the Doctor and the T.A.R.D.I.S., Gallifrey and the Timelords that were now gone, and the very sad man who had lost everything. But somehow she felt that this was the beginning of something new for the Doctor. Something wonderful. Something absolutely fantastic.

The End


End file.
